The Warrior of Mass, The Soldier of Effect
by MilitaryMan1
Summary: There are many things one can prepare for; genocidal, synthetic-AI hell-bent on the destruction of galactic civilisation? Shepard had already mapped out 10 contingencies for that probability. Being transported by a Reaper artifact into an entirely new universe? Well...it may hold no bearing here, but she's prepared to show this new universe how she got the title "Butcher of Torfan"
1. Prologue

Shepard; the only composite-class specialised N7 graduate, 1st human Spectre, saviour of the Citadel and, most recently, Cerberus' cyborg…. was currently in a "predicament".

 **"You can't hope to stop the Arrival!"**

Well, she called it a predicament, given her "thrilling" line of work and propensity to enter dangerous situations on a whim, but, in reality, it was what most FNG's would refer to as a "royal clusterfuck"; that, or a more simplistic slew of derogatory cuss words applicable to a situation where one is surrounded by mindless thralls serving billion-year-old biomechanical monsters hell bent on exterminating all sentient life within the Milky-Way. After 5 brutal rounds against waves of minions surrounding Object Rho, the final two waves switching up their objective from "capture" demands to kill orders, Shepard was torn, tired and battle-scarred; her self-regenerative skin weave looking as blood-red as the crimson locks that flowed from her now shattered helmet, deformed tissue healing to desperately stem the blood pouring out of her cheeks from scrapes and burns caused by numerous evasive techniques and heavy weapons damage. On the subject of "scarring", the lumbering mass of Krogan Battlemaster, known to the galaxy as Urdnot Wrex, was fairing marginally better due to his species natural regenerative abilities and redundant nervous system; however, it was clear that the extensive pyrotechnics employed by the security personnel on this god-forsaken-asteroid was beginning to make him slower and more conservative then he might have been earlier in the bout.

Now, Shepard was no slouch in stature, standing at a commanding 6"2ft, with a build that was amplified by both the Alliance's gene therapy treatments and Cerberus' cybernetic biosynthetic fusion, allowing her to give off an aura of authority when present on either the battlefield or the boardroom; it also allowed her to wield a variety of weapons inaccessible to standard human personnel. For example, while she often preferred to use a refurbished M-7 Lancer assault rifle (complete with Incendiary Rounds and an extended cooldown sink) and STG Scorpion pistol (courtesy of "someone's high level access" within the Salarian Government) in the majority of her conflicts, after some thorough reassurance from Mordin prior to his departure from the Normandy-SR2 and a little field-testing, she discovered she could use the Claymore Krogan shotgun and M-98 Widow Anti-Material Sniper Rifle utilised by her allied Geth-trooper, Legion; interestingly, the latter of which Legion made a prototype version of, complete with an extended thermal clip and unique rounds coated in a superconductive fluid that "flash"-converts to plasma upon impact, for her specifically about a standard galactic week before he…"it" (…..they?) returned to the Perseus Veil. Apparently, the extra-energy generation made the increased thermal clip capacity necessary, as it would, in Legion's own words, cause "extremely excessive thermal levels to liquefy surrounding metallic materials"; so in reality, it could still only fire one "round" per clip. That one "round", however, was powerful enough to obliterate even the toughest of Krogan warriors in a single shot; in principle and practice, it worked similarly to the Geth's Plasma Shotgun. When Shepard questioned Legion about his construction of such a rifle, it responded by stating that a farewell "gift is commonly seen as a gesture of co-operation" within organic societies; when further questioned about why it went through the "oodles" of effort for such a lucrative gift, it used it's expressive head-flaps to convey an equivalent of organic confusion in its characteristic way, before stating "….No data available" and leaving on the (assumed) pretence that it needed to "build consensus" on an "issue". Although this weapon was dwarfed in power when compared to the M920-Cain or Blackstorm singularity gun (a personal favourite of Shepard), it had the advantage of using rechargeable thermal clips over power cells, giving it greater longevity than both; the Blackstorm still found extensive use in this battle, however, as it ripped YMIR-Mechs left and right into pieces big enough to fill a coffee cup.

 **"Your galaxy is in sight! Your final days are at hand!"** , the Object taunted; Shepard contemplated this before thinking of an appropriate response, calling out **"Maybe, but the last two-kilometre ship who trash-talked me can attest to the fact that I don't quit!"** , before releasing a flurry of biotic attacks against the opposing forces.

This variety of devastating weaponry was matched only by Shepard's top-of-the-line armour. Thanks to both her Council Spectre status and a minor degree of coercion from a certain blue-skinned Shadow Broker, she was able to procure a set of N7 Shade Armour from an alliance R&D lab reverse-engineering Cerberus technology as preparation for the invading Reaper force; after fast-tracking the armour's approval through development, she installed numerous add-ons to the armour's virtual intelligence chassis, chief among them, an advanced tactical cloak based upon Kasumi's own personal device (who was more than willing to share the schematics with "Shep"; in exchange for Jacob's camera feed in the Normandy's armory, of course).

However, even while swimming in enough gear to equip a small army, Shepard's frame almost looked diminutive in comparison to the 800-year-old-warlord that was her current companion; much of his current gear was an amalgamation of both his own collected weaponry and armour from his time as Clan Chieftain, as well as specific additions from Shepard given to him as "gifts" and as payment for his help on this mission (although Wrex believed it was not required, Shepard's nature as a paragon of virtue insisted he be compensated in some way for his service). _Jokingly, Wrex had once said that Shepard was a woman after his own heart and that, as much as he appreciated it, she'd have to put in a breeding request with the other females for his "attention"; a kick to the quad and a glass of ryncol later, Shepard had got the Battlemaster donning some of the greatest Krogan-tailored equipment available either side of the Milky Way. After a few weeks of haggling and negotiating with the Geth armoury prior to this meeting, the emerald-eyed warrior had managed to procure a set of Krogan Rage Armour, as well as a few pieces of Geth equipment normally reserved for their Prime or Juggernaut ground units._

As mass accelerator rounds pelted the reinforced glass cover currently shielding her body from harm, Shepard took this temporary reprieve from harm to observe how this equipment was being put to use in combat against the, what seemed to be, endless hordes of personnel who would, without a doubt soon overrun this position. Wrex was supplied with a series of revolutionary stimulant packs that the Geth had designed to temporarily boost shield performance and strength with less than a .04% chance of any long term negative effects, one of their Spitfire assault-rifles which were now in mass production in preparation for the Reaper's arrival, a few biotic grenades and a Geth-Plasma-Shotgun. _Although he refused to take a regular assault rifle or SMG, Shepard insisted he take at least one lighter long-range weapon in addition to his modified M-300 Claymore; this outcome was expected by the hardened alliance marine, and, since it was technically a "mid"-range weapon, she allowed him to take the shotgun as his reserve weapon._

While he was currently holding back the impending forces in an admirable fashion, utilising the Spitfire's rate of fire, it was clear things were about to become problematic; Shepard's green iris' peered through the remnants of her visor to Object Rho. A thick black aura began spreading like a mist through the lab, soon reaching their location; dear god, was the feeling foreboding. Every hair in her body stood on end, the air turned as cold as corpse at the point of rigor mortis and even Wrex's expression turned to a grim frown. Making an attempt to call out to Wrex, Shepard's throat felt constricted, sealed like she hadn't drank in a week; it felt like she was back on the SR-1 those many years ago, choking in the vacuum, her consciousness fading away into emptiness. Before she could even consider the abhorrent feeling of helplessness, a burning pulse shot through the now-crowded science lab, sending her flying into the black abyss of her mind…


	2. The Beginning Of The End

(A period prior…)

Gaucherie; If Shepard had to pick one word to describe how her team had disbanded following the, once considered suicidal, attack on the Collector Base, that would be in her top 2 choices; that, or "difficult". Difficult in both a practical sense and an emotional one. Due to her utmost commitment to the team, Shepard ensured that every one of those who walked into hell and back for her made it to their desired destinations before she even considered returning to the Systems Alliance' controlled space; although, she had to make exceptions for certain members who preferred anonymity. Kasumi, for example, wished to be simply dropped off on Illium at a docking port about 2 miles south of the Azure hotel resort; this particular depot handles off-world traffic, suggesting she was planning on leaving the planet anyway. While it was likely just "Ms Goto" being stuck in her ways, it caused Shepard a little pain to have to bid farewell feeling slightly…unreliable as a friend, not a commander, to the young thief. One by one she watched those she had learned about, fought alongside and would die for slowly fade back into the galaxy. It felt as cruel as when she'd first strode onto the galactic stage nearly 3 years ago in her hunt for Saren; the pain was different but the amount suffering was the same. Despite her disinterest about the Cerberus operative, she had thought back to what Jacob had said to describe the state of the galaxy in the current era; "Politics, bureaucracy; same bullshit different leaders". Back then, the pain came from the judgment, "How could she release the Rachni Queen? Stupid bitch…" an onlooker would say as to a friend as she passed outside the markets by Chora's Den, or "There's no way Shepard could defeat Arterius; they'll be using the three chunks left of her corpse to spruce up the presidium's demari flowers" an extranet forum frequenter would write. Now? The pain was internal, a missing part of her lost when her rag-tag-team broke apart; the chirping tone of Mordin's singing had faded from the lab's walls, the Thanix Cannon's efficiency decreased with the lack of constant calibrations from Vakarian's constantly working talons and the small static discharges left by the residue of passive biotic usage had become limited to Shepard's own chemistry.

Mordin had requested a drop-off at a small base in the Joral mountain range on Sur'Kesh which, even with Shepard's Spectre Council Spectre Status and infamous reputation, was heavily restricted due to its nature as the Salarian equivalent of a "black-ops" or "silent-running" site; surprisingly, little resistance to the Normandy's presence occurred once the base's head of operations, Major Kirrahe, was able to confirm that Mordin Solus was on-board and that it was ,in fact, Commander Shepard attempting to land. After numerous "apologies on the behalf of the Salarian Union" from a young "holo-jockey", Shepard was treated to a warm welcome from the Salarian unit on guard at the base; the Major said that he was honoured to have the woman who saved his men on Virmire at his base, but that he remembered the Normandy "flying friendly colours" when it came to their aid. No doubt he was trying to refer to the Cerberus' logos that adorned the frigate docked at the base and was using specific vocabulary to mask his message from any bugs in case of a data leak. After a brief explanation that EDI had swept the ship of bugs and an exchanging of pleasantries, Mordin managed to get permission using some old contacts within STG to allow the ship to dry-dock for the day while the Normandy was repaired after the damage it sustained on the trip through the Omega-4-Relay and repainted to a standard matte white in exchange for Salarian access to study the Tantalus Drive-Core; given that Shepard was planning on giving the ship back to the Alliance and Council for study anyway, she gave permission for the engineers to do as they please and managed to improved Quarian-Salarian relations, if only by a minor degree, by placing them under the command of Tali (who is a shining example of the Quarian race, Shepard might add). After a few days of tireless work and a little elbow grease, the Normandy flew back into the galaxy as a white beacon against the endless abyss of the stars, Mordin left at the base of his own request, humming a quiet tune under his breath.

Now no longer bearing the stained logo on its hull, the Normandy went to the Citadel to restock on all munitions, food and materials necessary for the deep space operations constantly undertaken by the stealth frigate; however, it was also the drop-off point for the majority of the remaining crew aboard the vessel. Most of the non-essential or replaceable civilian Cerberus members chose to depart, primarily due to the success and completion of the mission, including Kelly Chambers and mess sergeant Rupert Gardner; this left behind a skeleton crew of people who were comfortable with entering the Alliance military or, at the least, were loyal to Shepard. In addition to this, Justicar Samara, Thane Krios and Garrus Vakarian all chose to leave the squad at this destination, all citing various reasons and objectives. Thane wanted to reconnect with his son Kolyat, not wanting to enter the "oceans with Kalahira" before reconnecting with his son or leaving him "disconnected" once more; Shepard donated a "small" amount of money anonymously to the bank account of a "Tannor Nuara" (his moniker) for an apartment in a complex on the Silversun Strip and bid him the politest of farewells. On the opposite end of the Citadel, Samara stated that she needed to commune with Councilor Tevos about the death of Morinth and to encourage support and preparation for the incoming reaper invasion; thus, she left for the Presidium Ring and promised to contact Shepard if she found it necessary to return to Asari space in the immediate future. Garrus, in true Vakarian fashion, left on a cheap zinger about Shepard's "physical capabilities".

"Alright Shepard, I need to garner support in the Turian embassy and pull in some resources to contribute to the War preparation across our colonies; although I do have our 'ace in the hole', as you humans say" Garrus contemplated by the cockpit's hatch, one talon on his fringe scalp

"What's that, Garrus?" Shepard said, opening the hatch with a lopsided grin.

"If the Reapers come before we've had time to prepare for their onslaught, I'll broadcast that omni-tool recording of you dancing after hitting the hard booze in Afterlife's VIP section; they'll either melt down, run away or fall in love" came the choked reply from a sniggering Turian sniper specialist

Shepard got an evil glint in her eyes "It can't be as embarrassing as your attempt to block rockets with your face; the only other Turian who witnessed a payload that big was the recon scout schooling you in flexibility, yes?", came the sardonic reply from the red-headed warrior

Mock pain shot across the Turian's scarred faceplates "Touché…Just like old times", with a quiet passive march, Garrus faded into the masses of people, leaving Shepard to smile at the disappearing figure. Once more, the Normandy departed a little emptier than before.

About a day later, Shepard at the request of the ex-Cerberus operatives Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor travelled to the Omega system and then the station itself; apparently, they were going to a data dealer called Ish and retrieving some rather valuable information on a powerful "ruler". One could only guess given Lawson's elusive nature from years of manipulation and spite. Following that, Miranda said she was going to visit Oriana and live with her for a while to build up that relationship they never had; Jacob was going for a more peaceful pleasure, for he was planning on taking his years of accumulated credits and building a home on Virmire as his own territory. Due to the lack of a Council presence in the area, the lush garden-world was technically open to settlement by any third-party groups but with the risk of possible pirate or Geth attacks, neither of which concerned a hardened marine like Jacob. In all honesty, Shepard was less affected by their departure than the others as she had long ago distanced herself from the two for different reasons; one due to a disinterest in their depth of character and the other due to their inherent condescending nature caused by a weird concoction of an inferiority and superiority complex. So, with polite handshake and fist-bump between two of the trio, the group dispersed and Shepard returned to the Normandy; a feeling of regret at her inability to bond with the two washed across her, before being drowned in a blanket of acceptance, the clamps on the dock releasing the vice like grip on both the Normandy and the swallowed lump in the commander's throat as she began her voyage to the Migrant Fleet, currently field stripping minerals in the Argos Rho cluster.

Tali'Zorah vas Normandy "returned to where she began" after traveling amongst "shoals" of cosmic dust. Travelling with Shepard one last time, with Legion no less, they stepped onto Koris' "Qwib Qwib" ship, an old second-hand freighter from Irune; after some minor hostilities from the guards and a bit of light questioning about the origin of the ship from Legion, Admiral Koris was given a private extranet server from which the Geth collective could be contacted.

"Creator-Koris, we have an enquiry." Legion's expressive flaps perfectly synchronized with its speech modulator.

"Go ahead,..uhm..'Legion'", the Quarian guard detail were very twitchy around what they considered a hostile species; however, it seemed to have no effect on the Geth platform and its inquisitive nature.

"Name of current Quarian vessel is consistent with Volus cultural trading vessels; was this ship previously in the ownership of the Vol Protectorate?" came the innocent question from the synthetic form

"Yes actually, this vessel specifically was purchased during a special period of uncertainty called …"; these conversations continued for several hours before Shepard left for human space. The talks ended with Legion stating that "further contact with creator forces is necessary to ascertain amicability between Geth and Quarian units", and exiting the Quarian dock on a shuttle back to the Perseus Veil.

To say Tali was ecstatic was like saying "Yagh are big" and "Salarians know things!": a colossal understatement. After a hug, big enough to crush an Elcor, miss 'Zorah bestowed upon Shepard a gift: her father's monomolecular blade. Shepard had heard about these: thin, durable swords that split molecules apart and were typically made of alloys normally reserved for ship armour. They could be infused with a variety of abilities based upon their specialisation; while's Tali's was undoubtedly used in combination with Tech abilities like "incendiary plasma" and "electrical" effects, Shepard had no doubt in her mind it could be infused with her biotics as well. Left utterly speechless and a tear in her eye, she told Tali to keep in contact and stay safe; a similar request was returned to Shepard. Now leaving the shrinking series of ships behind, Shepard ordered Joker to hang around in the Hydra cluster until further notice. While looking over the galaxy map, Shepard was greeted to the scarred, yet comforting face of mercenary Zaeed Massani, who initiated a conversation

"Hey Shepard." The rough and coarse voice called out

"Zaeed, good to see you, you're actually my next destination; where'd do you wanna go?" Shepard responded. She was quite fond of Zaeed and his stories; she reminded Shepard of her childhood friend's grandad and a little bit of an old dog. He held a surprisingly charismatic presence for someone who had no conventional etiquette in conversation.

"If I'm being honest, I don't know where I'm heading Shepard, after this "suicide mission" I just want to rest for a while and see if I can fix up ol' Jessie downstairs; when these "Reapers" come, the bloodthirsty bitch better be back in action." He sighed and began to reminisce on the last time he wielded her in action.

Shepard felt bad for Massani; she knew he spiraled down into alcoholism for a long period of time after Vido's betrayal and knew his romantic life had come with equal amounts of betrayal (specifically when she inquired more about that Turian model ship, the Verikkan). She began to think about a good place to unwind for his type of character: Omega would cause more problems than it would solve, Illium was too paperwork-heavy and Eden Prime was still rebuilding after the Geth Attack. Elysium? Ah, he wouldn't be allowed weapons there; then it clicked. Pulling up her old registry information, she checked to see if her apartment on Intai'sei was still under her name; due to its nature as a retirement villa, it had no taxes and was still under her ownership due to her success on Ahern's survival mission.

"I've got an old retirement place on Intai'sei that- " Shepard got cut off by a throaty chuckle and a light push from Massani

"You tryn' tell me something, Shepard?"; a toothy grin appeared on the face of the Paris-green-eyed commander.

"Don't fret too much; you might throw your hip. Anyway, I added a forgery and workshop to the shuttle garage there if you'd like to take it off of my hands; you're closer to retiring than I am anyway"

"Sounds good; Shepard?" Zaeed asked with a slight grim edge to his face appearing

"Hmmh?" They were now facing directly at each other.

Zaeed put his hand out for a firm shake that Shepard gladly took "Thanks, for everything; I'm not good at this cheesy crap but I got the bollocks to try because you've earned it".

"Anytime. Joker?" Shepard looked over the map to watch Joker respond over the intercom.

"Oh hey, the conquering heroes; what's up?" came Joker's sardonic response as he leaned around his chair, careful not to fracture a rib; he was still sore from the crash during the assault on the Collector Base.

"Take us to Intai'sei in the Phoenix cluster" came the order from Shepard.

"Shepard, I know the mission was tiring and you are getting a bit up there in age, but retirement has to wait; the space cuttlefish are still coming" came the oh-so innocent reply from Joker, laughing under his breath.

Two can play at that game, "Don't worry Joker, I'm sure all the people in the retirement home will love your extranet bookmarks….and so will the rest of the Alliance"

A 5 second dead silence followed, "Shutting up now Commander…."

Zaeed pissed himself with laughter "What you got on your omni-tool, glass-bones?"

Joker muttered something under his breath before saying "Nothing that concerns you, Scar-Face"

After a day of travel and another day of preparations after landing, Zaeed had disembarked on Intai'sei to stay at the apartment and Shepard left another good friend behind on the pulchritudinous planet.

This left two squad members left on duty; Grunt and Jack

Shepard and Jacqueline Nought had an…. unusual relationship. While both kept their distance initially due to Jack's hostility clashing with Shepard's formal militaristic nature and informal concern, they eventually became "girls club" types as Jack had put it, if less eloquently. They found common ground in their shared childhood trauma; Shepard fighting every-day on the streets of Earth to survive a hostile gang underworld with the Tenth Street Reds and Jack fighting to survive the human experimentation camp created by Cerberus on Pragia. Though it wasn't a common feeling of mutual pity or sympathy; it was one of respect at what the other could survive.

"Jack" Shepard greeted as she entered the ship's bar, only to see Jack mixing a weird magenta-coloured drink with a verdant-coloured one on the counter.

"Girl-scout" Jack bolted the potent mixture of liquids down and turned to face the head of the ship.

Shepard had asked Jack why she never wore any clothing aboard the Normandy; she had told her that she felt the clothing restricted her, both in a metaphorical sense and in a literal sense, that it restricted her abilities in combat. In response to this, she placed a requisition order for a casual set of fatigues that Jack was currently sporting; in appearance, it looked like a slim sports bra combined with a spiked bomber jacket, with the back of the bra coiling down to cargo trousers in a military camouflage. As well as this, her hair had begun to grow back out and was currently in bob-curl style sitting comfortably around shoulder length.

"What's your poison today?" Shepard asked, absentmindedly pulling up a chair over the bar, opposite from Jack.

Jacqueline eyed the empty glass, raising it to the light in an exaggerated fashion, "Mindfish and a Weeping Heart"

Shepard scoffed "Sure, because drinking skin venom and slow-acting hallucinogens is a great idea when I'm planning on dropping you off soon"

"Relax, I was joking; just a Full Biotic Kick. Why are you coming down here again?" Jack snarkily asked, topping her glass up once more.

"Bourbon, Tuchunka dry, twist of orange and ginger beer, right? Not a bad choice; I'm a Ryncol drinker myself. More importantly, I came down here to see where you wanted to go now that the mission's over.", a response that was immediately followed by the verdant-eyed soldier downing a pint of Ryncol.

Jack's voice was full of mirth "And you're complaining about me being irresponsible? Shit, Shepard; that drink is pretty much radioactive glass and will ruin your oesophagus, if you even survive it. Where I'm going? Not back to prison, that I'm fucking sure of"

Jack finished her drink in one go and gained a solemn look for a moment before returning to her regular brash demeanour.

"This might sound fucking backwards to you, but could you use your Council Status thing to get me onto the Alliance's ascension program in some way?" Jack asked in a deadpan tone

A deep frown etched itself onto Shepard's face " _'SPECTRE' status,_ and I'm sure I could pull some strings and give it a shot; the real question I have is: why?"

Jack got slightly somber and Shepard immediately regretted being so inquisitive

"Look, you heard the logs on Pragia, those dipshits infiltrated the Alliance's programs and could still be on elusive's payroll; I'm not gonna stand by while some fuckers screwing with the kids behind the scenes".

Thus, the quest to make one of the galaxy's most notorious criminals an instructor of one of the most advanced programs within the Alliance Military began.

This was undoubtedly one of the hardest drop-offs Shepard was making thus far; it took 5 days before Jack was able to even be considered for a training course. With a little help from Councilor Anderson and Liara's pull on the Council governments, Shepard managed to get all of Jaqueline's charges dropped onto a fake alias, who'd been pronounced dead from a drug-overdose in a skycar on Omega and gave her a new alias that was buried under enough "classified" tape to sink a cruiser so as to ensure complete secrecy on the matter.

"Thanks Anderson, I'll never forget what you've done for me" Shepard flashed Anderson her most genuine smile as the words left her lips.

"More than one…" Anderson sighed as he realised the political shit-storm he was going to have to deal with when Udina caught wind of this, but put on a brave front as he knew Shepard found it difficult to come to him even without knowing how much strain he was under.

Eventually, Jack got a station at Grissom Academy and, as the viewport showed the academy turning into a cosmic speck, Shepard was actually happy to see the growth of such a hostile crew member into such an outgoing, if not friendlier to strangers, person.

That left the "Perfect Krogan" on the engineering deck to be dropped off on Tuchunkan soil, or more specifically, at Urdnot's encampment.

"Joker, set a course for Tuchunka" Shepard said with a weary sigh under her breath

"Oohhh, course set. You going for a radioactive sun-bathe or is Wrex taking you out for Thresher Maw steaks?" came the mirthful reply over the comm system

"You'd miss his friendly nature when he's not around" came the sarcastic reply from Shepard, spinning a small amount of alcohol around in the air with her biotic abilities before sipping it from the mass effect field situated in front of her face.

"Also, it's for Grunt, not "Clan Leader" Wrex, so go and ju-"

EDI's holographic form interrupted the conversation, 'her mouth' a violent red colouration, "Alert! Incoming transmission from Alliance Headquarters at Arcturus Station! Private Transmission request from Admiral Steven Hackett".

"I'll take it in my quarters…" Shepard all but sprinted to the elevator…...only to be left waiting around for 2 minutes because the elevator was on the fritz again; without Gardner constantly working the non-emergency electronics, every worked slightly less efficiently in the Normandy crew's casual life.

Eventually escaping the steel death trap, she activated the communication relay and accepted the transmission, her skin having a light-turquoise tint to it against the backdrop of the aquarium.

The holo-screen popped to life, revealing an elderly, greying man in his ceremonial dress-blues military uniform,

"Commander Shepard? Admiral Hackett here, I have an…issue that requires someone not officially in the Systems Alliance chain of command: that's you." came the gruff voice from the top head of the Alliance's fleets, worry as apparent as the wrinkles upon his forehead; these signs placed his age around the low to middling 50s.

"I'm on it Admiral, what's the issue?" Shepard responded, switching back into her authoritative formal tone after the casual chat with EDI in the elevator on the way up to the loft, in which, they discussed the possibility of a plane of existence without the "mass" effect; since the removal of the hardware shackles in the AI Core, EDI had become much more personable to other people and, due to her proximity "emotionally" with Joker, had even begun to crack a few jokes.

"The Alliance has a deep-cover operative in Batarian space, name's Dr. Amanda Kenson; she was part of a science team looking into the reaper threat. Dr Kenson recently reported that she found evidence of an _imminent_ Reaper Invasion"

Immediately, this sent alarm bells to Shepard's head; why was Kenson chosen? What did she find? A Beacon? A Reaper device? Was she aware of Reaper indoctrination? As these questions raced through her mind, she remembered Hackett had contacted her, meaning something was wrong.

"So why contact me?" Shepard let the words fall from her lips, her tone slipping for a moment toward the middle of the sentence.

Hackett's worried face fell into a grim stare "We've just received word that the Batarians have arrested her and moved her to a concealed prison camp on Aratoht; she's being held up on terrorism charges"

That did not bode well; either this Amanda was under the influence and coercion of someone (or something) else, meaning the "real culprit" needed to be stopped, or the Batarians were holding an innocent woman on false charges and she wouldn't wish such torture as Batarian "interrogation" on anyone.

Hackett continued "I need you to infiltrate the facility and retrieve Kenson as soon as possible; as a favour to me, I'm asking you to go in alone"

Shepard had many concerns about that request; the no allies part, not the infiltration part. She could handle two-bit-slave-traders with ease, but from experience, she knew that if Kenson was in fact Indoctrinated, the situation might become a lot more complicated; she could end up trapped herself, with no hope to escape in the form of a squad member to hack a door or guard the shuttle. This job was about deniability as well as skill, so she doubted Hackett would commit to her any of his own soldiers for the mission. Deciding to test the waters a bit, Shepard responded to his specific request with a request of her own.

"Sir, is it absolutely necessary for me to do this mission solo? I have a hell of a squad with me, I'm sure they'd help out". She was lying through her teeth, as most of her team had obviously departed from the Normandy and she had little time to consult any of them given the urgency of this matter, but she wanted to understand his reasoning a bit better before deciding how to approach the situation.

"Shepard, Kenson is my _friend_ ; If the Batarians see a squad of armed soldiers, they'll kill her. I need you to go in with discretion or not to go in at all" Hackett spoke in a slightly rushed tone, whether from concern or an eagerness to get a response out of her so he could return to his duties, Shepard couldn't tell.

So, he was having a healthy dose of paranoia; it was clear from this brief conversation that he had a long history with this "Kenson" woman, possibly romantic, but difficult to tell without a solid reading on Amanda's age.

While Shepard was certain under normal circumstances this task would be effortless, the Reaper element threw her into an uncomfortable uncertainty that shook her a little on the inside; every time the charismatic commander had faced the Reapers in any fashion, she'd pulled through thanks to a significant amount of help from her team members. Deciding to use her charm and appeal to his militaristic pragmatism, Shepard coolly responded

"Sir, with all due respect, it seems like a lower-risk situation if at least two people went along on this mission; although, I do agree that it should be kept strictly off of the Alliance's record"

Now intrigued, and the worry fading back into mild concern, Hackett asked "How so, Commander?"

"If one person was kept outside the facility, as a scout for the prison, it leaves a lot of options open for infiltration purposes. For example, they could monitor the progression and location of the site's guards and Dr Kenson, if necessary, create distractions to ensure the acquisition of Kenson when louder alternatives are needed and numerous other tasks, such as guarding an escape vehicle from enemy forces or hiding any bodies of patrollers to avoid suspicion. More importantly, If I got theoretically caught, the guard forces would converge on my location; thus, the 'reinforcement' could reach Amanda with little resistance." Shepard listed off, hoping her reasoning would be enough to convince the stern Fleet Admiral.

Judging by the pained expression on his face, Steven was deeply conflicted and troubled over the decision; the seconds felt like hours to both parties in the conversation. After what finally seemed like an eternity, Hackett spoke up.

"…Permission granted Shepard, but I want this done right; only you enter the facility itself and if this mission leaks out to any other governing bodies, alien or otherwise, you are taking full accountability for the mission. No mention of our involvement here, just you" his voice sounding slightly lighter and with a more resigned undertone than his more coarse, natural voice.

After gathering as much information from Hackett about Kenson, the Alliance Black-Operations and her discovery, Shepard was alerted by EDI that they had just entered the DMZ of Krogan Space. She weighed her options up, and she didn't have many. Normally, this job would be easy pickings for the Normandy crew, but all of the stealth specialists who would find this to be child's play had departed and were unreachable in one way or another.

Kasumi was a no-go, on all levels; she had neither the time or resources to locate Kasumi in any regard, even if her last known location wasn't on the far end of the galaxy.

Legion, she knew would come in a heartbeat or…..heat cycle in its case, if she classified it as an emergency to deal with "the old machines"; however, like Kasumi, being thousands of lightyears away provided a massive time barrier Shepard couldn't afford.

That left Thane as her only option by time and availability alone, and Shepard wouldn't drag Thane back into this for a few reasons. She knew that his sense of justice and care for innocents would make him feel obligated to help; he wouldn't really have a choice in his own mind. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it's what made him such an honourable man; however, he was dying of Kepral's Syndrome, and had very little time to spend with his son before he did so. To add to this fact, the dossier on Aratoht said to expect very humid temperatures, which would wreak havoc on his condition; that left Grunt as the only person available at this time.

Grunt; "Grunt and "stealth" should never be in close proximity to one and other in a thought process, so that was a "no".

Wracking her brains, she walked up to the Galaxy map and updated it with all the known locations of squad members; Shepard then sat in deep thought, contemplating the issue. Who was available, skillful and had the experience to be tactful and pull off a mission as a mercenary for the Alliance, unofficially on their payroll?

"Shepard? We are just orbiting Wrex's camp on the radioactive pile of rubble; you still alive down there? If you're dead, I'm not putting you back together, for god's sake; I don't have some shady terrorist organisation to fund me now and I'm not Liara, who can pull funds out of the government through blackmail. But, I am still going to laugh at Sparatus' head thingies when he goes *air quote* 'Ah shit, Reapers' *end air quote* sometime soon" Joker's conversation drifted into monologuing quickly as he realised Shepard was only half-attentive to his words as they hit her ears and were filtered into the recesses of her mind.

Shepard had completely forgotten that currently she was in the process of dropping Grunt off back at Urdnot's camp; she'd saved Grunt's location till last so he would feel cooped up and ready to fight so she could teach him the value of restraint. As well as this, it meant he'd succeed in Krogan society, by expelling his anger in powerful controlled bursts; similar to how the Ancient Krogan Warlords had fought, as per her readings on their species. That was something Wrex had showed her during their first tour on the Normandy. Wrex had- _Wrex_ **...**

A glint appeared in Shepard's emerald eyes.

(A few hours later)

"Shepard! You're back! I assume that means the Collector's got turned into violent puddle's in the galactic core?" Wrex greeted, marching down from his throne of rubble to welcome his old friend. His literal old friend; not like the Krogan he called an old friend earlier that day and "engaged" with him through a "courtship" of blood.

"They would be if they weren't incinerated by the radioactive blast" came the reply from the smirking soldier, helmet under arm, and an evil glint in her eyes.

"The labs on Noveria, Virmire and now this? Are nuclear explosions generally your choice of exit?" came the throaty chuckle back from the battlemaster.

"Maybe, but I have a favour to ask of you Wrex" her tone switching to deadly serious in a split second, capturing the attention of the Krogan, who as a predator species, were more attuned to these sudden changes

"And it's a big one…."

 _ **Author's notes: Sorry for the delay, this flashback was to establish continuity for why Wrex was suddenly there. The next chapter will be the Aratoht mission, hopefully a finished inventory for what the characters are taking with them, and the last chapter currently in the Mass Effect Universe. I'll be counting up what the results are then, but Halo 1 end/2's beginning seems to be the overwhelming winner here at the moment. I say this now, as I'm still not fully sure where I want to go with this story and have tonnes of exams/work to do. Do you think that when they reach Halo 3's end they should cross back over in the ME:U for a sequel? Don't answer now, just food for thought.**_

 _ **Apologies for any mistakes in this chapter; the original got corrupted and in order to fit my own schedule, I rewrote it all in 3 hours**_

 _ **(Update 1/2: I've gone through and corrected some mistakes; should be mostly corrected now)**_


	3. The End of The Beginning

Choking; the thick rain soaked into the surrounding vegetation, an overbearing darkness settled on the planet as it's hemisphere turned away from the burning star at the centre of the Bahak system. Shrouded by these factors, a Batarian prison camp lay amidst the surrounding rubble left by the mining facility nearby, staffed, in ratio, by slaves and managers in a 10:1 split. Approaching this dismal abode, a small UT-47A Kodiak steadily descended towards a gap in the jungle-like forest, creating a concealed landing zone.

"You know, Krogan are supposed to get smarter with age" Wrex grunted, hefting a compact block of metal that would later extend into a warlord's hammer. Similar to his grandfather's ancestral armour, the clawhammer had been an heirloom in his family for many generations. However, unlike that crumbling ceremonial piece of crap, the Krogan Warhammer was sturdy and functional. Although the Battlemaster rarely used the hammer, preferring either to simply crush the enemy with a charge or a biotic display in close-quarters-combat, he'd been told to use tact; Wrex found it ironic that Shepard chose a Krogan for a stealth mission, something he was keen to constantly remind the commander of.

"Yes, I'm aware?" Jane's tone rose at the end of her sentence, indicating it was more of a question than a statement.

"Well, I don't know how true that is. Asking for a Krogan to be subtle is like asking an Asari to keep their clothes on, or a Salarian to share their secrets; yet I still agreed?" He mused in response, his faceplate scar and devilish grin amplified by the dark blue interior of the shuttle,

Shepard snorted with exasperation in response, although there was no genuine hostility in her voice "And I'm the one who asked you; what does that make me? Anyway, in all honesty, I don't need you for the stealth objective Wrex, despite you being so famous for your discretion; I need you for the combat section of the mission. Even if I reach Kenson undetected, I doubt I'll be able to take a prisoner held up on the highest charges of terrorism out of her cell without drawing someone's attention."

The debriefing had already been shared on the way down to the surface; Wrex had whole-heartedly agreed with Shepard. Something stunk like Varren dung from here to the Hollows and Shepard needed someone on standby in case Kenson had already lost her marbles, meaning the charges against her were true. The secrecy? He hated it; too much politicking. If this were a Krogan prison, he'd have…

Wrex paused that thought; if it were a Krogan prison, Kenson would be food for the Varren, bait for the Pyjacks or just plain-old target practice.

Leaving that thought behind, he busted open the shuttle door and turned to face the special forces officer behind him, the only part of her visible in the N7 Shade Armour being the customary tag designating her vocational code.

"Maybe I'll finally see some action after all; all those whining weaklings that have tried challenging me could hardly be called stress relief, let alone sport." Came the rumbling voice of Urdnot's chieftain, although his body language told Jane the agitation was more a façade for his anticipation.

From this point onwards, however, Shepard could afford no mistakes; she snapped into her no-nonsense voice that commanded authority rivalling an Admirals and began calling Wrex by his designated codename.

Activating communications, and ensuring they were untraceable or unable to be wire-tapped, she gave out an order.

"Maw-Alpha, acknowledge" came the commander's voice through the Rage Armour's HUD.

Wrex grunted "Kalros-Theta, EK acknowledged". Shepard could've sworn she heard an expletive underneath his breath whispered out.

Shepard began sprinting towards the facility, still broadcasting orders. 100 metres to the camp.

"Maw-Alpha, take the thermite and incineration plasma charges; plant them near the shuttle dock if possible"

Jane heard a large amount of shuffling and an "Ow, my quad!" before she finally got a response.

"No chance of that, Kalros-Theta; looks like someone kicked a Klixen nest down here."

Wrex proceeded to send a live feed to the upper-left corner of the commander's own HUD; it was bustling with activity, and it looked as though a large shipment of materials was being transported to and from the mining facility.

Now directly outside the prison, she observed the fuel lines that adorned the building's exterior; the way they snaked through different sections of the facility. Quickly, she marked the waypoint on the squad's feed.

"Maw-Alpha, changing last co-ordinates; apply explosive ordnance to these areas" she restated the order with the updated location

Similar to earlier, Jane swore she heard the battlemaster complain; about having to run back and forth at first, before muttering something about outrunning a Thresher Maw once.

Once she could verify the black shadowy figure moving into the area was Wrex, she began her infiltration of the "prison" camp; she scoffed. "Torture camp" was more accurate, Jane thought, a low growl emanating from her lips.

The next parts were a blur for the N7 specialist; her elite training in engineering made the initial insertion a breeze. After cutting the power and using her Tactical Cloak to sneak through the subsections under the main courtyard, she came across a pair of Batarian guards, consuming their equivalent to coffee (Nak'shir) around a table in what appeared to be a staff room.

"Yeah, they were gonna slam an asteroid into the Mass Relay" one said, taking a long swig from his mug; it was cold according to her suits EM sensors.

"Can they even do that?" a younger Batarian asked incredulously

"Doesn't matter, that bitch was caught and shoved down into Cell-Block C's interrogation room" the first replied, chugging the remnants of his beverage in a split second

"By the Pillars of Strength, those guys are animals..." the younger one remarked; although. There were no traces of remorse in his eyes and he had a large grin upon his greying face.

Deciding this as cause to hurry along, Jane activated her Adrenaline Rush and flew through the corridors of the base to the aforementioned cell block, diving through gaps in laser grids to reach the location before things got messy.

Eventually, her biofeedback monitor displayed the IFF tag of a woman who fit the Alliance record's description of Doctor Amanda Kenson. Peering through the glass-like material, Shepard saw two Batarian guards on duty; one on the outside looking in, and one strapping Kenson down to what looked like a very painful instrument of torture. This is where things got complicated; she could either blast the forces to smithereens and fight her way out with the doctor, or she could incapacitate the two guards and attempt to leave the same way she entered. She knew with Wrex's help, she could easily fight her way out, but the presence of an escort complicated the situation; Kenson didn't have armour that could practically eat mass accelerator rounds like her and the elderly Krogan. The subtle way would be slower, but reduce causalities for both sides significantly; Shepard thought it through once more. Maybe both options were possible.

Applying a neural shock to the guard on her side of the one-way-mirror glass and a "high impact" in the form of he fist to the other, Shepard began her conversation with Kenson.

Quite frankly, Jane couldn't care less about the tombstone data she was being asked.

"Who are you? What are you doing?" and other monotonous questions droned from Amanda's pale lips.

"I'll explain it all on the shuttle, I'm Commander Jane Shepard here to retrieve you" she quickly blurted out, before handing Kenson an M-3 Predator pistol of the unconscious guard and stripping him of his armour; she instructed Kenson to put on the armour.

Although she complied, the question came out of its own volition

"Why Commander?"

Shepard turned to face her "Because…with that sealed helmet and built-in voice-modifier, you look like the rest of the personnel on site." As she finished her sentence, she updated Kenson's suit to sync up to her location and activated her Tactical Cloak.

"Follow my signature and stay quiet" the commander said over the encrypted communication line.

"Maw-Alpha, Kenson retrieved; acknowledge?" Shepard turned off her external speakers as she hailed Wrex.

"Kalros-Theta, my tail is as numb as my ass from sitting here; acknowledged" came the brisk and sardonic reply.

Shepard sighed and did some mental gymnastics after virtually facepalming from that comment.

Mapping out the quickest route back to the shuttle, she determined the fastest way to leave was through the heavily guarded docking bay for authorised shuttles. After hurrying an all-too-calm Kenson to the port, she stopped to look over the bay. The metal grey walls of titanium and tungsten ensured there was no subtle way to leave through any of the walls with cutting equipment; Shepard needed a distraction. A big one.

A slight grin set onto the green-eyed-commander's face as she gave "Maw-Alpha" the order to detonate the charges on the far end of the facility.

As the charges engulfed the facility, guards of every post sprinted towards the chaos; they were hardly rigid or disciplined military soldiers. As Kenson's frame disappeared into the underbrush of vegetation, the only remaining guard went to radio for support in apprehending the woman. He never had a chance; a large, bladed hammer came crashing down upon the slaver's head, reducing it to a bloody pulp, and his corpse was dragged away from the route where any of his "comrades" would head when patrolling on his shift.

As everyone got onto the shuttle, Kenson removed her "acquired armour", stripped back into her causal fatigues and set the co-ordinates for the concealed base where her team was located in the asteroid belt. At the same time, Shepard set the auto-pilot VI to follow the co-ordinates. Wrex merely voiced his displeasure at how simple the mission ended up being

"Got me to come along, leave Nakmor and your tank-bred in charge to watch over my throne, got armoured-up and then there's no shooting; Wrex not happy".

His complaints went ignored

"So, tell me what you found?" Jane initiated, eager to find out what Kenson had discovered.

"Well, I found a Reaper artefact tha- "Before she was able to even finish her sentence, safeties flicked off and Kenson found herself on the end of barrelling capable of destroying titanium-plating as If it were tissue paper.

Instantly, Shepard began interrogating her "How much contact have you had with the artefact?"

Kenson's face lit up in an unnatural smile that chilled the commander to the bone

"Relax, Shepard; I'm not indoctrinated" came the cool reply from the doctor.

Wrex snorted; had this human female not been the objective of their mission, he'd have filled her with enough projectiles to kill a Thresher Maw. She just screamed at his instinctual danger sense.

* * *

"Not indoctrinated" As the lumbering mass of Krogan awoke from what felt like arm-wrestling Sovereign, these words echoed throughout his mind.

"Don't piss in my ear and tell me it's raining" Wrex thought out loud; peering to his left, he made out the body of the Commander, who was also struggling to her feet.

Suddenly, a loud click brought their attention to the other element in the room; a 7ft tall, 1000-pound warrior of verdant-forest steel, whose MA5B Assault Rifle was brought to bear on the two targets. Like a window into their souls, the golden-visor of the armour looked upon their confused faces. Judging by its body posture, it was just as confused as they were; it was just taking a more confrontational approach, evidenced by its rigid military stance. Although it was clearly trained to conceal its emotions, Shepard spotted more hostility emanating from it when it gazed upon Wrex's currently prone form.

"Don't…. Move…." it's deep gravelly voice threatened; that settled it, this was a male and he was pissed, or trying his hand at intimidation. Perhaps both. Quickly, Shepard erected a barrier to stop the soldier from reaching them whilst they equipped their own weaponry. Upon doing so, they realised they were no longer in the lab...or on the asteroid. The barrier dropped, leaving the armoured-warrior facing a two to one standoff, and with only 13 bullet's left in his weapon to boot.

A full-minute passed on Shepard's mission clock before a small, purple hologram popped up from the display console, taking the form of a nude female human with code-lines running along her "body".

"Try opening your mouth then. The big one's clearly not Covenant, there's a human there too; they didn't slaughter you on sight, so they probably aren't directly hostile…at least at this time." The hologram added "Hmmm, the larger one has a remarkable biology…" Cortana spoke to John-117 in her exasperated and condescending tone she'd recently begun to frequently adopt when talking with others after Alpha Halo. The first sentence was spoken aloud through the intercom, so the "visitors" could hear her, whereas subsequent inquiries were routed directly through his neural uplink circuitry from his Mjolnir helmet to his brain.

Reluctantly, the Chief lowered his assault rifle, enough to demonstrate non-hostilities towards the "guests", but high enough to ensure an accurate quickdraw if he needed to attack. He found the two mirroring the gesture, the Krogan Battlemaster slightly more reluctantly.

Another solid minute of silence followed. A response was finally uttered to break the vacuum-cold atmosphere

"….Hello"

Authors Note: Okay, the next chapter will be purely a simple inventory. Shouldn't take too long. Do you think it was too abrupt? The ending here I mean?

I may be away for a bit because of my exams, but it looks like I'm gonna be starting around First Strike for the Halo-verse


	4. InventoryAuthor's Notes

_Inventory_

Commander Jane Shepard:

Weaponry: Refurbished M-7 Lancer, Avenger-class assault rifle

-Attachments: Incendiary Rounds, Extended cooldown sink (102 shots/Cooldown)

-Mark X

Scorpion Pistol, Salarian Special Tasks group requisition

-Attachments: Cryogenic Rounds, Increased Thermal Clip Capacity (6 shots/60)

-Mark X

-Explosive Projectiles

M-300 Claymore, Krogan Thresher-Maw Hunting supplies

-Attachments: High Explosive Rounds Mark V, Shotgun High-Velocity-Barrel (1 shot/24)

-Mark X

\- High-Force projectiles

M-98 Widow Anti-Material rifle, "prototype" Geth device

-Attachments: Superconductive-Toroids; "plasma" rounds. Extended Thermal Clip (1 shot/20)

-Mark: ?

-Plasma rounds; burns through "virtually all known substances"

M-940 Blackstorm singularity launcher, Eli Wegner

-Attachments: N/A

-Mark: N/A

-Power cells; large power consumption. "Black-Hole-Gun"

Monomolecular short-hand trench knife, tali 'Zorah

-Capable of cutting almost any material; "splits" molecules

-Extremely thin; composition of Tungsten, Titanium and an unknown metal to form

"unbreakable alloy" (untested; rarely utilised in combat due to 'Zorahs reliance on shotguns)

-Can utilise specialist abilities if synced to omni-tool; biotic or "plasma" properties (see prior notation)

Armour: N7 shade armour, Infiltration Specialisation, Alliance

 **-Effects**

+10% Melee Damage

+10% Ammo Capacity

+10% Weapon Damage

+10% Power Damage

+20% Shield Regen

-Unlimited Cloaking Time

-Synthetic muscles for increased striking damage

Credentials/Specialisations:

-Composite class specialisation; adept in all fields

-Extensive healing properties due to reconstruction and subsequent skin weave

-First Human Spectre

-Earthborn

-Hero of Elysium/"Butcher of Torfan"

\- N7 graduate; toughest training in Alliance Military

-One of only four *known* N7 graduates

Battlemaster Urdnot Wrex

Weaponry: Geth Spitfire

-Attachments: Superconductive-Toroids; "plasma" rounds. Extended Thermal Clip (1000 shots/5000)

-Mark: N/A

-Thermal Clips; high-energy/high-force projectiles

Stimulant Packs

-Attachments: N/A

-Mark: N/A

 **-Effects**

-4 times shield bonus (+4000)

\- 15 Second Duration

-Faster regeneration

-3 times melee damage

-Maximum of 5 pack capacity at one time

Geth-plasma-shotgun

-Charge or "quick-fire" weapon

\- Superconductive-Toroids; "plasma" rounds. High-velocity barrel (6 shots/ 72)

-Mark X

-Thermal clips

-Plasma rounds; burns through "virtually all known substances"

Biotic-Grenades/Lift Grenades

-Capable of suspending targets in air for 6 seconds

-Capable of shredding weakly-armoured targets

-Limited capacity; maximum capacity of 6 grenades at once

Modified M-300 Claymore shotgun

-Unlike standard variants, capable of two-shots before reloading. (2 shots/40)

-Increased armour-penetration (0.1m Titanium); slightly reduced damage. (15% weaker than standard Claymore)

Krogan Warhammer

-2 metres long

-Bladed; similar to monomolecular bade. Can be infused with biotic energy only.

-Hammer width: 0.5m

-Hammer length: 2.5m

-Blade length: 0.3m

-Blade width; 0.1m

-Capable of shredding organic targets; less effective against strong metals. Biotic ability compensates for reduced effectiveness against heavily armoured targets.

Armour:

Krogan Rage Armour

 **-Effects**

+30% Melee Damage

+5% Ammo Capacity

+5% Weapon Damage

+20% Power Damage

-10% Shield Regen

-Holds fluid that transfers stimulant packs to body (tubing reinforced to ensure no damage will occur)

-Has extremely strong shielding; however, this means the shield regeneration recharge time is slightly below average.

Credentials/Specialisations:

-Vanguard Class specialisation; primarily "biotic warrior", few technical skills of note.

-Extensive healing properties due to natural Krogan regeneration

-First official and "universally"-accepted Krogan leader in centuries

-Born on Tuchunka; radioactive wasteland

-Krogan Mercenary, Battlemaster and "Warlord"

\- One of only two-known Krogan to kill a Thresher-Maw on foot during his Rite of Passage; several centuries ago

-Capable of shrugging off most forms of conventional damage

-Age: unknown

(Possible Age Range: 800-1600 years old; based upon comments and comparisons to similar Krogan warriors, somewhere middling between those two ages)

Author's notes

Sorry for the delay guys; I'm currently preparing for exams, keeping up a job, being a carer and trying to keep a sleep pattern up (I have hyperactive sleeping disorder)

Now there are certain things I want to address before I take another short break; primarily, I would like to talk about some common misconceptions about the mass effect universe (specifically, the use of plasma) and respond to a review I found rather amusing. This will mainly be a tirade and if you're here purely for the story, the next section is largely unnecessary.

Firstly, "Mass Effect doesn't have plasma weaponry".

This is a mistake I often see in other fanfiction and "Vs" debates and, quite frankly, it really irritates me. A more accurate way of phrasing the statement would be "Mass Effect doesn't use directed-energy-weapons" and even that is slightly disingenuous, as both the Collectors and Protheans used DEW's in combat. The difference between Mass Effect (ME) and Halo plasma weaponry is that ME plasma weapons turn into plasma upon impact by shattering into small metal fragments that then arc electricity between them, whereas Halo uses (supposedly; correct me if I'm wrong) electromagnetism to sustain a field which holds the plasma as it travels towards a target. As well as this, plasma weaponry is used in a variety of other ways too; the "incinerate" attack Shepard can use is plasma (codex) and the "force-fields" used by Cerberus are also-made of plasma, able to instantly "disintegrate flash upon contact" (referenced in game).

" **Incinerate is a tech power in Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3, and a Tech skill Mass Effect: Andromeda. It is a high-explosive plasma round fired from the user's omni-tool that inflicts damage over time to all nearby enemies"**

Secondly, "Biotic Barriers can't block plasma"

Again, an often repeated mistake in fanfiction and "Vs". As evidenced by this scene, and the fact that Plasma still technically has mass and speed, it would be stopped by a kinetic barrier; however, if the user were not moving or were moving in the direction of the plasma, contact would still be made from the "splash" upon impact with the Kinetic Barrier. It would, however, be completely stopped by a biotic barrier due to its being a gravitational shield and not a projectile shield, making it a more effective defence; kinetic barriers would still allow the plasma's "heat" through, if that make sense.

watch?v=kNJnl1wCBfg&list=PLrYsj_Il7VSuTTJao_Qi-izjDS2ycE0F&index=3 (8:30)

However, I would like to note that regardless of which shielding is used, the plasma would still drain ME "shielding"/barriers ridiculously fast; this is because it has a lot more "mass" to block than the sand-sized mass accelerators used in ME and, more importantly, it has a lot higher "direct" energy transfer.

Finally, "Mass Effect armour would be demolished by plasma ammunition/damage"

This is another thing that is clearly contradicted by the Codex:

" **by lightweight composite ceramic plates in areas that either don't need to flex or require additional coverage, such as the chest and head. When the armor is hit by directed energy weapons, the plates boil away or ablate rather than burning the wearer."-Mass Effect Secondary Codex**

Any completely-destroyed armour-section is then temporarily-fixed with omni-gel replacement materials before being "fully" repaired at an appropriate station.

 **(Quick note; this Fanfiction begins in Halo: First Strike, which I reference extensively in the next rant. Pick it up if you haven't read the book, it's a good read)**

Now here's my response to a review left on the most recent chapter that I hope is just trolling, or horribly-misinformed; otherwise, I'd have to be extremely condescending towards such an individual. (Which I will now be; prepare for salt)

It was left by a guest, so I'm unsure as to who to address this to; if I accidently misgender you, I will sardonically apologise in advance. Here's the review in question:

" **MJOLNIR is made of titanium, not steel, and Master Chief would be more than able to take on a single krogan and a normal human, regardless of skill."-Guest**

First off, the noun "steel" was used as a symbol or embodiment of strength and firmness, not a literally composition of the armour's materials. I'm fully aware of what the MJOLNIR armour is made; multilayer alloy (primarily titanium), a gel layer and skinsuit. Later Marks (5 onwards) had more features and extensions added, like a crystal-liquid layer, allowing an AI and soldier to interface with each other, smaller power-fusion packs etc.

An example of that use of steel as a term for firmness/strength is even used in the book "Halo-First Strike", where John is nearly killed by a "Brute"

"John struggled and tried to pry the hands from his throat. The tendons in the Brute's forearms were solid bands of steel"; they are not literally "steel", yes?

Secondly, **"Master Chief would be more than able to take on a single krogan and a normal human, regardless of skill"**

There's so much wrong with this statement I feel it is necessary to address it before I even consider writing another chapter; yes, this statement is very true. However, it is only true without context; neither Shepard or Wrex are normal "humans" or "krogan". Even in Mass Effect 1, Shepard was no "ordinary human" as she had already been in the military for years, and as we know from the Codex, all alliance personnel receive gene therapy to remove most biological flaws and improve their effectiveness; **"All Alliance soldiers receive gene therapy - provided by MarsGene"- Codex.**

It was also extremely advanced even as long as 30 years prior to the first game; **In the years before first contact, human genetic research was quite advanced, even allowing for the "uplifting" of animal species that lingered uneasily on the borders of sapience.** In soldiers, muscle mass and other natural abilities are increased. That was before Mass Effect 2, where Shepard was rebuilt as a cyborg with a ridiculous amount of upgrades. Let me quote the game codex for you once more.

Codex (research/upgrades):

 **Skeletal Lattice-** **By reinforcing the skeleton with a synthetic weave, bones are made almost unbreakable. In the event of bone trauma, medi-gel conduits allow for bone regenerations in a matter of days.** So to sum it up, she's got near unbreakable bones (Sound familiar?) and, even if they ARE broken, they can regenerate within a few days.

 **Lattice Shunting-** **Strong synthetic fibers are woven through the skin, dramatically reducing damage taken from most attacks. These fibers also act as a medi-gel conduit, improving healing.**

So, she can survive a lot more punishment and heal a lot faster as well.

 **Microfiber Weave-** **Perforating the muscles with micro-fibers increased overall strength and decreased the potential for muscle damage from exertion.**

So, she can hit with a significant amount of strength, enough to temporarily challenge a Yahg in close-quarters-combat (For reference, Yahg are at least 8/9ft, if not bigger and can easily rip metal apart and chuck it fast enough that it blurs)

So, yes Shepard is a "normal human" compared to the T-1000, but to argue she is an easy target for Chief is very disingenuous, especially when you take her powers into account; she can use "Adrenaline Rush" to match Chief's insane reaction speeds and use "stasis" to hold him in place biotically.

Even forgetting that, her weaponry outclasses his in such ridiculous ways; a "Blackstorm"s round elevates an area to near infinite mass, which would obliterate Dreadnaught armour, let alone the Mark V. Throw in Wrex and it's overkill; I cannot seriously state how down-played Shepard is when in Halo "Vs" battles. She's an N7 graduate; she's no pushover in terms of combat.

N7 Codex:

 **Initially, candidates train for more than 20 hours per day, leading small combat teams through hostile terrain with little sleep or food. Trainees who do well are awarded an internal designation of N1 and are invited to return. Subsequent courses - N2 through N6 - are often held off-planet and include instruction in zero-G combat, military free-fall (parachuting), jetpack flight, combat diving, combat instruction, linguistics, and frontline trauma care for human and alien biology.**

 **The highest grade of training, N6, provides actual combat experience in combat zones throughout the galaxy. If the trainee survives these scenarios in "admirable and effective fashion," he or she finally receives the coveted** N7 **designation. N7 is the only ICT designation that may be worn on field or dress uniforms.**

 **There is little shame in failing an N course - the training is so extreme that even qualifying for N1 elevates an officer to a position of respect. The universal prestige of merely attending the academy helps to restrain trainees from taking excessive risks in pursuit of higher honors.**

 **Although ICT qualification by itself does not guarantee higher rank, those officers who are able to complete the program are typically well suited to senior leadership positions.**

Here's a quote about Shepard specifically, from the codex and a bit from the game

 **Shepard (your history):**

 **You were on shore leave at Elysium when the first wave of the Skyllian Blitz struck. A massive coalition force of slavers, crime syndicates, and batarian warlords attacked the human colony, determined to wipe it out.**

 **You rallied the civilian inhabitants, leading them in their desperate fight to hold off the invaders. When enemy troops broke through the colony's defenses, you single-handedly held them off and sealed the breach.**

 **After hours of brutal fighting, reinforcements finally arrived and the enemy broke ranks and fled. Because of your actions, Elysium was saved, and you are regarded throughout the Alliance as a true hero.**

OR

 **After several years of service, you joined the campaign to rid the Skyllian Verge of batarian slavers and other criminal elements. The final battle came when Alliance forces laid siege to Torfan, a slaver base built miles below the surface of a desolate moon. The superiority of the human fleet was wasted in the assault on the underground bunker, but you led a corps of elite ground troops into the heart of the enemy base.**

 **Nearly three-quarters of your own squad perished in the vicious close-quarters fighting...a cost you were willing to pay to make sure not a single slaver made it out of Torfan alive.**

Keep in mind, according to squadmate comments, Shepard held off thousands of Batarians on Elysium; that was without armour, preparation and only weaponry available at the time.

Let's not forget Wrex; prepare for more codex quoting.

 **Codex on Krogan:**

 **Their thick hides are virtually impervious to cuts, scrapes or contusions, and they are highly resistant to environmental hazards, including toxins, radiation, and extreme heat and cold.**

 **The most amazing physiological feature of krogan biology is the multiple instances of major organs. These secondary (and where applicable, tertiary) systems are capable of serving as back-ups in the event of damage to the primary biological structures. They have, for example, two hearts, four lungs, and four testicles. Krogan also have a secondary nervous system using a neuroconductive fluid, meaning they are almost impossible to paralyze.**

 **Aside from redundant systems, the legendary krogan "blood rage" adds to the race's reputation for being notoriously difficult to kill or incapacitate in normal combat scenarios. In this state, krogan become totally unresponsive to pain and will fight to the death regardless of injury level. In the grip of it, krogan become seemingly invincible, but are merely totally unresponsive to pain. "Blood-enraged" krogan fight regardless of injury level, to the extent that krogan shorn of all four limbs continue gnashing past brain death until total somatic death.**

Then combine the fact that biotic krogan can throw 4-ton APC's and I say Chief would not only be beaten, but completely outmatched.

Next Chapter will take a while guys because of the aforementioned issues at the A/N start. Till next time!


	5. HIATUS NOTICE

(Important note: this story WILL continue; I just posted it at a really inconvenient time. Details below; this was typed on a mobile device while I'm working, so apologies for any spelling/grammar mistakes)

As of the time of this chapter, I'm officially putting the story on temporary hiatus for about a month. I was hoping to have the next chapter up around this time, but I stopped writing for the chapter about this time last week around 500 words after checking my examination time table. I've got 18 plus exams to get through from now 'till mid-June, averaging around one every two days. Some days I've got as many as three 2+ hour exams; on top of this, my teacher's best friend just kicked the bucket after a battle with depression (details still coming in) and my own depression is just crushing my motivation for both work and the story. I also work a job on top of this, I'm just swimming in problems at the moment. So, I'm sorry to say that real life takes precedence and I'm posting this purely because I want you guys to stay informed about the story and don't think I just fell off of the earth. Please feel free to send me Private Messages, as I still receive notifications about it through my email, about the story, future plans or even simply for talks about the whole Spartans vs Mass Effect Infantry argument. I promise I'll be back (at the very most) early July, where I can dedicate my attention to the story

Before I leave for this break, I thought I'd make sure to point out and answer any points made in the review section.

zekebomb chapter 5 . Apr 27

 _ **I lolled because starting to become a N7 is the same basic requirements to being a Marine, and not even an infantryman. Marine Combat Training puts them all at N1 status. How more people haven't completed the course baffles me.**_

As an (ex)-marine cadet, I feel the need to point out the terminology has slightly different meanings in a "space-age" setting. When the codex states trainees take on things like "hostile terrain" and have little "equipment", it's not talking about just training in terms of a mountain-tundra, shrouding wetland forests or a burning desert. MCT is a basic infantry training condensed into 29 days and includes: combat conditioning hikes, fitness runs, and Marine Corps Martial Arts sustainment. However, in the Mass Effect Universe, as shown by ME1's pinnacle station and ME3's combat simulator, people can simulate entire planetary environments and wounds to an extreme degree of realism. They can simulate actual wounds with real pain and create vacuum-like environment with no actual danger (mentioned in an old log), but that's not important; the important part anyone can take the course, but the only people who excel are awarded the designation. Example: Both Master Chief and a standard UNSC marine can complete a military obstacle course. However, one can do so in a much quicker, impressive and efficient manner.

NEXT REVIEW:

 _jeremy hollis_ _chapter 5 . Apr 26_

 _ **using lore is one thing and using game stuff is another  
many have play the game and not read the lore**_

 **Mass effect**  
 **game wise shepard a runof the mill special forces guy with alien tech space magic wannabe jedi**  
 **he levels up and get stronger**

 **but the biggerest thing that make shepard a threat has nothing to do his training or skills is his top teir super expensive euipment with top level mods that he buys from his loot in his advterures, something an average special forces will not be supplied witch in your story dones have had a gone run in the looting and cash getting max level everything.**

 **for example ME1 if Jenkins wasn't on point for shepard those geth drones would have killed him why same begining eiupment and level as jenkins. that shows to me the basic euipemt for marines and special forces and skills are the same in the HSA no real differince untill leveling up and cash for new gear.**

 **gamewise krogan are weak wannabe lovechild of a brute and gunt**  
 **gun down by peashooters wait to get up gun down again**  
 **even worest in a ME2 cutscence getting one shot kill by ME pistol**  
 **wrex a badass tough guy not**  
 **proof virmire ashley williams gun him down with no trouble**

 **so when people like me read the lore we laugh at it because what we read and see do not match up and is the main problem in comparion between the game. Both games have trouble with this but ME lore is so bad that at times are we reading the same game.**

 **Halo**  
 **Master chief gamewise and lore are different (in lore he is more impressive and less laughable).**  
 **gamewise is a firstshooter what you start with is what you finish**  
 **no level up**  
 **no upgrades**  
 **no buying better alien gear from friendly aliens**  
 **Armour, strengths, and other ablitites are set but superor**  
 **supersoldier and only one with shield power armour compared to normal marines armour**  
 **in game show stength to flip 60 tons tank and sneak spine instant kill aliens.**  
 **overall from very start to finish you know you greater than avearge soliders.**

 **Question: biotic krogan throws 4-ton apc with space magic when? playing game wrex, grunt never do this and the many krogan i killed never do this trick**

 **still a 4 ton apc by jedi krogan have you forgot chief can flip a 60 ton tank he could phyical pick it up throw it back**

 **Question: do krogan with there mutiple organs have to two brains because I say headshot**

 **Last Question: are you going to take the lore stuff related (simplied) to eezo (how larger the mass the more eezo and energy need to move it) also meaning "stopping" because compared to a the average Halo human bullet and covnant neddles/phsma and fuel rod shot, per shot have very much larger mass to the average Mass effect gain size bullet not factoring speed comparesion is hard with ME very vague speed numbers in the condex other than speed of a dednaght gun and supersoinc.**

 **simple: big slow take down kintic barrers faster**  
 **vs**  
 **small and fast**  
 **yes or no**

Okay, not gonna lie: this was kind of difficult to read. However, I'll try to respond to all points made (even if his condescension and inaccuracies about canon irritate me)

Let's go through this shall we:

" **using lore is one thing and using game stuff is another  
many have play the game and not read the lore"**

Codex entries, graphic novels and extended universe almost always take canonical priority over games. "Halo: Reach" has a few details that contradict the book "Halo: The Fall of Reach", which was released first; thus, gameplay mechanics should not be used as completely reliable for gauging strength, as the extended universe provides much more accurate and refined stats.

" **Mass effect  
game wise shepard a runof the mill special forces guy with alien tech space magic wannabe jedi  
he levels up and get stronger**

 **but the biggerest thing that make shepard a threat has nothing to do his training or skills is his top teir super expensive euipment with top level mods that he buys from his loot in his advterures, something an average special forces will not be supplied witch in your story dones have had a gone run in the looting and cash getting max level everything.**

 **for example ME1 if Jenkins wasn't on point for shepard those geth drones would have killed him why same begining eiupment and level as jenkins. that shows to me the basic euipemt for marines and special forces and skills are the same in the HSA no real differince untill leveling up and cash for new gear."**

Why is every telekinetic character someone else doesn't like a "wannabe Jedi"? By that logic, all Jedi are "wannabe Angelique Cottins". (For those who don't get the reference, she's a person who reportedly ,in real life, had telekinetic abilities during the Victorian period)

All of those are limited to gameplay reasons; the cutscenes have to be the same to allow for people to pick other classes that may not have those abilities. As shown by the Asari, you can put up portable forcefields strong enough to block at least 4 missiles (Thessia: ME3); to say that is a canon measure of defensive strength is to be intellectually dishonest. Same goes for the equipment; as it is an RPG, equipment is restricted for gameplay, not canon.

" _ **gamewise krogan are weak wannabe lovechild of a brute and gunt**_

 _ **gun down by peashooters wait to get up gun down again**_

 _ **even worest in a ME2 cutscence getting one shot kill by ME pistol**_

 _ **wrex a badass tough guy not**_

 _ **proof virmire ashley williams gun him down with no trouble**_

 _ **so when people like me read the lore we laugh at it because what we read and see do not match up and is the main problem in comparion between the game. Both games have trouble with this but ME lore is so bad that at times are we reading the same game."**_

Re-read prior statement. It's for gameplay, not as a measure of strength in lore; extended universe take precedence. If we were using cutscenes as a measure for strength, I could say Shepard is strong enough to survive 450 kilotons of TNT due to this cutscene.

watch?v=qw3illYC_aU (3:13-3:50)

 **(** wiki/Reaper **)**

If you want evidence of Krogan being badass, look to the extended universe.

"Wrex possesses the considerable physical prowess common to the krogan, with strength in at least the 2-3-ton range. He is remarkably sturdy and his stamina seems inexhaustible; in the past, he has pursued targets and fought pitched battles for days on end without rest.

He has spent centuries as one of the most sought-after bounty hunters in the galaxy; consequently, no one wants to cross him for fear of grievous bodily harm coming their way. As a Battlemaster, Wrex is also a skilled biotic capable of terrorizing his opponents with telekinetic blasts and barriers."

(Comic evidence and basic history overview: urdnot-wrex/4005-89538/)

 **"Halo**  
 **Master chief gamewise and lore are different (in lore he is more impressive and less laughable).**  
 **gamewise is a firstshooter what you start with is what you finish**  
 **no level up**  
 **no upgrades**  
 **no buying better alien gear from friendly aliens**  
 **Armour, strengths, and other ablitites are set but superor**  
 **supersoldier and only one with shield power armour compared to normal marines armour"**

So, this is just complaining about the style of game, right? There's no substance for an argument here; kinda pointless. I'm completely aware of how the game works and what Chief is capable of.

 **"in game show stength to flip 60 tons tank and sneak spine instant kill aliens.**  
 **overall from very start to finish you know you greater than avearge soliders."**

Once again, game mechanics are not accurate; this applies for Halo as well. Also, of course Chief is better than an average marine; putting anything next to a Halo marine generally makes it look more powerful. Even Unngoy can kill UNSC marines; it's irrelevant. The tank feat/strength is also wildly inaccurate; If game mechanics were to be considered canon, Spartans would be able to flip a M313 Heavy Recovery Vehicle (which is 205 tonnes).

Hell, John himself had immense trouble escaping a Jiralhanae's grasp; they sure as hell weigh less than 60 tonnes (not to say they don't weigh a lot; still 1-1 ½ tonnes).

Don't believe me? Here's a quote from Halo: The Fall Of Reach

 _("_ _he explained. "Kelly can run a little faster, I think. They will only get quicker as they adjust to the 'alterations' we've made to their bodies. They can lift three times their body weight—which, I might add, is almost double the norm due to their increased muscle density.")_

John's weight is 130 kilograms (290 lb) without his armour, and 450 kilograms (990 lb) with MJOLNIR on.

( wiki/John-117) ( john-117)

Simple mathematics will tell you that he should be able to lift around 3 tonnes, so roughly around the weight of a M12 LRV Warthog ( wiki/M12_Light_Reconnaissance_Vehicle)

So, that's not even inferred, but directly stated in canon as his strength.

" **Question: biotic krogan throws 4-ton apc with space magic when? playing game wrex, grunt never do this and the many krogan i killed never do this trick**

 **still a 4 ton apc by jedi krogan have you forgot chief can flip a 60 ton tank he could phyical pick it up throw it back"**

Let me first start off with something that doesn't require extended universe knowledge; Grunt is not a biotic, he's a soldier-specialisation. That's literally the simplest concept and you got it wrong. I may be slightly rude, but this entire section comes off entirely as condescending.

Secondly, I will quote the Mass Effect book on this now; the Krogan in question is a mercenary called Skarr.

 _''Ignoring the constant gunfire, the krogan stopped less than ten meters away from the APC. Every muscle in his body tensed as he began to focus his biotic abilities. The reaction triggered an automatic biofeedback response in the amplification modules surgically implanted throughout his nervous system. He began to gather dark energy, drawing it in and trapping it the way a black hole traps light. It took ten seconds for the power to build to maximum capacity. Then Skarr thrust forward with a fist, hurling it toward his target. The overturned APC launched into the air, flying over the heads of the stunned Alliance marines to land a dozen meters behind them. They were caught off guard, completely surprised and totally exposed by the unexpected maneuver. …./…. The mercs had stopped shooting, watching in utter amazement as the krogan biotic had simply hurled the four-ton APC out of the way.''_

Lastly, the final section of that statement has already been disproven prior to this section, so I shall ignore it. However, I would like to point out a biotic is capable of freezing their target in place using Stasis (used by Miranda in ME2, Benezia in ME1, Oleg in ME3: Omega etc.); so theoretically speaking, they could just immobilize Chief and use any one of the aforementioned heavy weaponry to shred his armour. As well as this, force is mass times acceleration; so even if Chief could flip a tank, he'd still be crushed by the Warthog's force as it flew towards him.

 **"Question: do krogan with there mutiple organs have to two brains because I say headshot"**

No, Krogan only have one brain; however, a Krogan is still physically capable of fighting whilst being brain dead and missing all of its limbs, so even if a headshot is achieved, which is already difficult due to their skull positioning and thickness, victory is not guaranteed.

( wiki/Codex/Aliens:_Non-Council_Races#Krogan:_Blood_Rage)

 _"Feared throughout the galaxy as nightmarishly violent warriors, the krogan are both aided and hobbled by their legendary "blood rage"._

 _In the grip of that madness, krogan become seemingly invincible, but are merely totally unresponsive to pain. "Blood-enraged" krogan fight regardless of injury level, to the extent that krogan shorn of all four limbs continue attacking past brain death until total somatic death."- Codex- Krogan Biology, Blood-Rage_

" **Last Question: are you going to take the lore stuff related (simplied) to eezo (how larger the mass the more eezo and energy need to move it) also meaning "stopping" because compared to a the average Halo human bullet and covnant neddles/phsma and fuel rod shot, per shot have very much larger mass to the average Mass effect gain size bullet not factoring speed comparesion is hard with ME very vague speed numbers in the condex other than speed of a dednaght gun and supersoinc.**

 **simple: big slow take down kintic barrers faster**  
 **vs**  
 **small and fast**  
 **yes or no"**

This is slightly confusing, but I assume you're asking whether the kinetic barriers will hold up as well as Halo's shielding against larger Covenant weapons? And the last bit Is a way of trying to state that Halo's weaponry would be more effective against Kinetic Barriers. The answer is: Yes and no.

No, because the amount of mass in a Fuel-Rod-Gun's ammunition would be drain almost any Kinetic barrier in one or two shots; even with the KB's active, the splash zone would be much larger than a standard plasma-round and start destroying the top layer of the armour just from the splash damage alone.

This is why I chose two biotic characters; as I mentioned when referring to the Asari, biotically-created barriers stop everything from people to missiles with nothing getting in. (See aforementioned biotic scene on Thessia)

So…. Yes, but mainly because Kinetic Barriers are a fallback for a biotic warrior in terms of defense, not their first or most effective. Kinetic barriers are the technological defense and won't be as tiring or put as much strain on the body as biotic barriers, but they are weaker in terms of both what they can stop and their efficiency.

I would expand further but I'm really tired and ,as mentioned earlier, dealing with some personal issues (and my break ends in two minutes).

On that note,

I'll see you in a month guys

-MilitaryMan1

EDIT 1: The page's format might be off due to the links; sorry uys


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